Reworked Sportswear Is Having a Moment and These Are the Brands To Know
From embroidered vintage football shirts to tulle-trim adidas tracksuits, these brands will kit you out.
Reworking, upcycling or DIY, whatever you call it, it’s taking over sportswear. This crafty trend has been spotted everywhere from football games to fashion week. For example, this year’s Euros finals saw Leah Williamson’s girlfriend rocking a shirred shirt, while London-based designer Conner Ives has long been known for his own cinched designs.
With increased environmental consciousness, trend fatigue and the constant threat of recession, it is perhaps no surprise that the do-it-yourself style is gaining popularity. The accelerating trend cycle and proliferation of ‘cores’ have also made it harder to find unique clothing or feel a sense of individuality. As a result, many are opting for vintage, bespoke and upcycled pieces to satisfy the craving.
On top of this, there is more attention on women’s sports than ever before, leaving many looking for something to wear to games to support the girls and show their team affiliation, whilst keeping it fashionable. Think sports jerseys with cinched waists, gemstones and tulle, or sneakers transformed into tank tops.
Whether you’re an “all the gear but no idea” kind of supporter or a seasoned professional, upcycled shirts are undoubtedly the most fashionable way to show your allegiance.
Read on to discover our favorite upcycled sportswear brands to kit you out for game day, or any day.
By Morello
View this post on Instagram
Emerging brand By Morello was launched in 2024 by friends Jess Sandiford and Natasha Nketsi with a wild start. Only a few weeks after the first drop last summer, the designs went viral on TikTok, leading to the brand receiving a repost from DJ Nia Archives and a custom request from singer-songwriter Grace Carter. More recently, the brand ran a collaborative workshop with the London-based women’s community Athene Club, where the team helped fans make their own custom pieces. In By Morello’s archive, you’ll find plenty of co-ord sets with shirts and shorts shirred at the waist and finished off with tulle trims and gemstone-embellished track jackets.
That Sew Nicole
View this post on Instagram
It can be cliché to say that fashion is art, but in this case, it really is. Nicole Chui, the brains behind That Sew Nicole and London grassroots team Baes FC, recently exhibited her embroidered soccer shirts in a solo exhibition titled “Ruined” at Oof Gallery in London. The exhibition name pokes fun at all the times she’s been told, “You’re ruining a perfectly good football shirt,” and honestly, we couldn’t disagree more. The beautifully hand-embroidered shirts stitch together elements from the women’s football community and unpick the concept of fandom, bringing communities together.
Vintage Threads
View this post on Instagram
A London-based vintage shop with a rework studio, Vintage Threads has direct access to the scraps and off-cuts. From uni mates to co-founders, Charlie Oxley and Freddie Rose have been in the vintage business for almost a decade, so naturally, they’ve accumulated all the right connections and sourcing locations. While hunting for pieces to sell on their London shop floors, they come across many a damaged grail that they simply can’t say no to. Taking the rejects home, the brand gives them a new life.
Think Prada America Cup Trainers transformed into a cropped zip-up vest, or branded towels into tennis skirts. The creativity and resourcefulness of the team have secured them a permanent post in Selfridges, London and a collaboration with Schuh and adidas. Rose shares that starting the reworked collections was “a great way to bring something to our customers that reimagined brands in a whole new way from how we’re used to consuming them.”
The Football Gal
View this post on Instagram
Another embroidery artist who has cultivated a significant following over the years is Diana Al Shammari, or ‘The Football Gal‘, producing beautifully hand-stitched florals over classic football shirts. It’s no light work either, given the level of detail shown in these pieces. Since the brand’s inception in 2017, Al Shammari has created over 300 shirts and worked with clients including adidas and PUMA, while also dressing soccer players and celebrities (including Joe Jonas). She offers commissions on shirts you already own, or you can purchase ones from the website, working closely with her clients to create the final artworks.
Hattie Crowther
View this post on Instagram
Previously featured on Hypebae, Hattie Crowther uses sportswear to raise social issues and critique inequalities. In her latest drop, Crowther reworked football shirts with slogans to trigger a conversation around the gender inequalities in football. For example, one shirt with Heineken as the sponsor featured the slogan “More Pints Than Paycheques,” to call out the gender pay inequalities in the game. While women’s football reaches newfound levels of support and exposure, Crowther ensures that we don’t forget that there is still a way to go.
Deco.And
View this post on Instagram
Eccentric, maximalist and delightfully feminine. Deco.And reworks adidas tracksuits and basketball jerseys, exaggerating the silhouettes to create puff sleeves and ballooning bottoms topped off with frill trims and delicate bows. While more feminine than a classic tracksuit, the pieces also have an edgier side with patchwork stitching and mesh panels. This feels like one for the high-fashion girlies, almost reminiscent of Simone Rocha.
Antonia Bronze
View this post on Instagram
Beyond the jersey, Antonia Bronze is reworking something heavier. The London-based designer went viral last year for creating a jacket for England football player Bukayo Saka’s girlfriend, Tolami Benson. The custom leather piece was made in Saka’s team colors and featured his first Arsenal jersey number. After she wore it to support him in the stands, Instagram fans dubbed her “WAG of the year.” Since then, Bronze’s jackets have been spotted across both the football and wider fashion community, commissioned recently by England footballer Leah Williamson and DJ Peggy Gou.
Kitten
View this post on Instagram
Starting on Depop after she was furloughed during lockdown, Charley Keighley launched what would soon become Kitten. She began sourcing items to resell and later evolved into reworking her finds to create pieces that she wanted to wear herself. This included upcycled football jerseys and ruched button-up shirts that gained her serious online cred, now even seen on the likes of Olivia Dean. In a previous conversation with Hypebae, Keighley said of the process behind her designs, “I like to start with quite a masculine shape like an Oxford shirt or a football shirt and ‘femme’ it up a bit.” The perfect way to describe our summer wardrobe.
Conner Ives
View this post on Instagram
We can’t finish this list without including Conner Ives. You probably remember the viral shirred football shirt from Ives last summer that sparked an endless number of ‘dupes’ and was perhaps (dare we say) responsible for the trend entering the mainstream. The SS24 “Reconstituted Shirred Football Top,” crafted from vintage football jerseys sourced by his studio team, retails for £240, but that doesn’t stop them from being routinely sold out online. A high-fashion football fanatic’s dream, or perhaps nightmare, depending on where you fit into the whole “this ruins a kit” debate.
